Eighty-four, the next opponent
For the rest of the day, the Arizona Wildcats never led again, and the most important reason was that the physical exertion was too great. Tamzuski, McConnell, Hollis-Jefferson and Brandon were all unable to make their best technical moves, resulting in some deformation when doing them, so their efficiency and shooting percentage all decreased accordingly.
Although Stanley's consumption in this game was not as good as that of other teammates, he was too limited by Li Wu at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, so that in the end, he did not reflect the value of the number one star, and he was invisible when the team needed him to stand up the most.
On the other hand, Li Wu has been running on the court vigorously, assisting in defense, running, advancing with the ball, and making emergency stop jump shots, all kinds of actions are no different from the first half, and the shooting rate has increased instead of falling, and the reason is that the Wildcats have decreased their defensive intensity due to excessive physical consumption.
In the final three minutes of the game, the Lions had an eight-point lead at 90-82, and then Li Wu took advantage of Luke's block to shoot a three-pointer to completely kill the game, and when the time entered three minutes, the Lions had a 11-point lead at 93-82.
In such a situation, the Wildcats can only choose to give up the game, although Coach Miller still has a timeout in his hand, but he is no longer going to use it, because his team has already used up the last bullet, in fact, at the last moment, they can not limit the physical Li Wu at all.
In the end, the Columbie Lions won the quarterfinals 99-88, and Li Wu got 54 points, 6 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks.
Barkley couldn't help but humor: "I don't know if Li Wu wants to contribute his first rebound to the NBA." β
In fact, it was not, firstly, Li Wu was unlucky, no ball bounced in front of him, and secondly, when he entered the paint area, he always rushed to steals and blocks, and his mind was not on rebounds, which led to such an embarrassing situation.
After the game, Stanley Johnson, RondΓ© Hollis-Jefferson, T.J. McConnell, and Brandon Ashley all announced their participation in the 2015 draft. That means Arizona won't be competitive for the NCAA title next year, as they've lost four key players in one fell swoop.
After announcing his participation in the draft, all four Arizona players were asked what they thought of Li Wu, who was in the spotlight due to his strong presence in China, backed by a strong Chinese market and the attention of Zen masters.
Ronday Hollis-Jefferson was unsparing in his praise of Li Wu: "He's a tireless machine, in fact I thought we could win this game, but at the end of the day, I felt like I was crawling in a swamp with every movement, but Lee still maintained a blistering pace and caused me a lot of problems on both ends of the floor, I think I need to work on my fitness this summer." β
TJ McConnell and Brandon Ashley answered similar content to Hollis Jefferson, basically praising Li Wu's talent and envy of his physical strength, except for Stanley Johnson who was slightly unconvinced, but he did not make trouble unreasonably, just said that he was not in good shape today, and he would have a showdown with Li Wu after he arrived in the NBA.
Li Wu was interviewed by a TBS reporter after the game, and as usual, Li Wu behaved modestly, and after answering all the questions, the reporter suddenly ran a bombshell: "Mr. Phil, the general manager of the New York Knicks, came to see you two games in a row, and it seems that he really wants to keep you in New York, and it just so happens that you are now playing for the university in New York, do you think it is cool to stay in New York?" β
Phil's arrival Li Wu already knew before the game, and the commentator was constantly discussing things about himself, he already knew that the Zen master seemed to be interested in him, so when the reporter asked this question, Li Wu was not surprised at all, and his answer was equally unsurprising.
"I'm ready to play for any team that drafts me, and New York certainly does well."
The modest answer made the reporter a little frustrated, so the TBS reporter once again made a big move: "Won't you follow Miss Hornacek to Phoenix?" You're together a lot during this time. β
"Miss Hornacek is my reporter for reporting, so it's not strange that she shows me up from time to time, and of course I'm ready to fight for Phoenix, as long as he chooses me..."
The TBS reporter wanted to ask again, but was interrupted by Barkley: "Hey! Man, you're supposed to be done asking, right? Why don't you go find your boss and ask him to transfer the money to my and Kenny's and Murphy's accounts. β
Barkley said as he separated the reporter and stood in front of Li Wu, beside him were Kenny Smith and Murphy, but the Zen master who had just explained with them was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey! Lee, a beautiful game! Now that the Kentucky game has just begun, I guess your opponents in the Final Four should be them, you have to be careful, this season, Kentucky has not lost a game. Barkley laughed.
"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Buckley." Li Wu thanked him politely.
"Hey! It's nothing, in fact, we came to you for something that you need to decide. Barkley then told him about the last bet, and then said to Li Wu: "We decided that you will set the penalty for the loser of the bet, so you can let Murphy do anything." β
Murphy smiled wryly and said, "Yes, I promise that I will never go back." β
"Mr. Murphy, thank you for giving me shoes, I was going to give you a few new pairs, but since you lost the bet, the punishment is no return." Li Wu smiled and continued: "I'm sorry, I have to go, my teammates have been waiting for a long time. β
After saying that, Li Wu walked away, Barkley and Kenny Smith looked at each other, and the former spread his hands and said, "Is that all?" β
Kenny is Smith shook his head with a smile, "This kid is a bit boring. After saying that, he turned to Murphy and said, "You're such a lucky guy!" β
That night, Li Wu left Los Angeles for New York, and when they boarded the plane, the University of Kentucky defeated the University of Notre Dame at the Cleveland Cavaliers' home Quickloan Arena to maintain their 38-game winning record and reach the Final Four.